Amplifying Alumni Impact in Capstone Clash Initiative
Seven Alumni Participate in First-Ever Promotion
After sharing seven inspiring alumni Capstone projects (our “Significant Seven”), three rounds of voting, and more than 2,300 total votes from our community, we’re excited to announce the winner of our Capstone Clash, NLC’s promotion to earn $500 in prize money to further an alum’s Capstone project.
With 472 final-round votes on Instagram, the winner of our Capstone Clash is Sunny Williams’ Capstone, Tiny Docs! Tiny Docs is an interactive web app that creates cartoons to educate kids about health in a fun and easy to understand language. The interactive children’s health platform is packed with educational videos, activities, and resources that nurture better health for the next generation.
Capstone Clash participants included food pantries, chess cooperatives, Narcan vending machines, caregiver support, and education. Our participants (read about them below) connected with hundreds of new friends, peers, and supporters across the country, bringing new exposure to the ideas and issues that matter most to them.
Our first-ever Capstone Clash united alumni to celebrate the direct impact that the #NLCFamily makes in their communities. That’s the power of NLC: one conversation, one Capstone project, at a time, we change the world together.
In NLC chapters across the nation, Institute Fellows identify a project or big idea that captures their passion and then find a way to fill a need in the community by leveraging the skills and networks to make a change. This connection and collaboration is what drives our community leadership movement.
Have a story of impact since your Institute experience? We’d like to amplify it with the NLC network. Share your story with us!
About the 2023 Capstone Clash Participants
Runner Up: Marcella Juarez (NLC South TX Frontera ’20)
Missy Spears – COVunity Fridge
She/Her
Kentucky 2021
The COVunity Fridge is a free fridge, freezer, pantry open 24/7 for community donations and shopping. We partner with a number of small businesses and individuals to keep it stocked and clean. It also has a microwave and hot/cold water dispenser to allow folks to eat meals on site.
Holly Noon – Doctorate with Focus in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
She/Her
Broward 2022
My capstone was to outline the process for pursuing my doctorate degree with a speciality or focus in the diversity, equity & inclusion space. Once I obtain the doctorate I would leverage my expertise in my own consulting business or pursue a leadership role at an organization with a DEI focus.
Em Gray – The N.I.C.E. Project, Narcan In Case Of Emergency – Texas’s First Free 24/7 Narcan Vending Machines
She/Her
Austin 2019
Launched in August 2022, the NICE Project works to reduce overdose deaths in central Texas by making imperceptible the barriers to overdose reversal medication via the vending machine delivery system. They currently have three locations in Austin and have dispensed over 5,000 doses of Narcan.
Ashley Hart – The Janice Hart Foundation
She/Her
Tampa Bay 2022
The Janice Hart Foundation focuses on providing a community to support caregivers and encouraging them to fill their vases. We will provide peer and therapeutic support groups, reprieve volunteers to assist caregivers, emergency bill assistance, and a community directory of business in our community
Ernest Levert Jr. – ChessMakers Cooperative
He/Him
Columbus 2021
The ChessMakers Cooperative was created to help raise awareness about solidarity economics and cooperatives through the creation and distribution of custom-made chess sets, tables, and equipment. We are excited to move into the next phase of the project by hosting our first ChessMakers workshops!
Just as our alumni came together to vote to advance projects through Capstone Clash, we will also unite to learn and grow with each other at our yearly Convention.
This year, hosted in Little Rock, Arkansas, we’ll focus on the many ways that NLC Fellows and alumni create change where change is needed. We’ll celebrate folks like Sunny and our other amazing Capstone Clash participants, as well as those other impactful changemakers across our nation.
You can learn more about Convention and purchase ticket here.